“Thomas is a very technical player, he is very smart,” said Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja in a club release. “He dominates very well the position underneath the forward, but has been working as well through the process in the academy as a midfielder. He’ll help us. [We’re] promoting a good, good young player who can potentially, someday [be] a national team player.”

Roberts will remain with Dallas’ U-19 squad for the time being, though he’s eligible to be added to the first-team roster at any point in the future. Earlier this year he spent 10 days on loan at Bayern Munich as part of the two clubs’ player development partnership.

“It’s just a lot of hard work,” said Roberts. “I moved my whole family here for this to happen and for this to finally become my life now, it’s just really exciting. Now that the opportunity has come, I just have to take it and work my way up the program.”

FCD’s academy has now produced 25 professional players for the first team, an MLS-leading 23 of which have signed Homegrown contracts.